No. 3 Buckeyes Advance to ITA Kick-Off Championship

Ohio State defeats Cornell 5-1; will meet Notre Dame/Indiana winner Sunday

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The third-ranked Ohio State men’s tennis team (4-0) defeated No. 44 Cornell 7-0 Saturday in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at the Varsity Tennis Center in Columbus. The top-seeded Buckeyes will meet the winner of No. 2 seed Indiana and third-seeded Notre Dame Sunday at 1 p.m. in the championship match.

 

The meeting with Cornell was the first meeting between the Buckeyes and Big Red.

 

Ille Van Engelen beat Danny Riggs 6-1, 6-0 at the fourth position to earn the match-winning fourth point for Ohio State. The Eindhoven, Netherlands, native is 4-0 on the young season.

 

In doubles, Devin McCarthy and Van Engelen, the 15th-ranked tandem nationally, defeated Venkat Iyer and Riggs 8-1 on court one to give the Buckeyes the first win of the match. Seconds later, Peter Kobelt and Connor Smith downed Cornell’s Sam Fleck and Jason Luu 8-2 to claim the doubles point for the Scarlet and Gray.

 

Chase Buchanan and Hunter Callahan were leading 7-1 against Quoc-Daniel Nguyen and Alex Sidney at the time the second match ended, resulting in an unfinished result.

 

Buchanan was the first Buckeye netter to finish singles, handing Iyer a 6-2, 6-0 loss at No. 1. The two-time Big Ten Athlete of the Year is ranked 28th nationally, while Iyer is 98th. Kobelt gave the Buckeyes a 3-0 advantage with a 6-2, 6-3 win vs. Nguyen. Van Engelen shortly followed with the winning fourth point.

 

Smith earned the Buckeyes’ fifth and final point with a 6-3, 7-6 win on court six vs. Luu. McCarthy was leading Sidney 6-3, 4-3 but had to withdraw, allowing Cornell to win its only point by default. Nelson Vick and Fleck were unfinished because of to tournament time rules.

 

The Buckeyes have now won 132 consecutive matches in Columbus, dating back to the 2002-03 season. The team also boasts an impressive 202-13 record since the 2005-06 season.

 

The Buckeyes will continue action tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the tournament championship, facing the winner of the Indiana/Notre Dame match. Ohio State also will play host to Toledo tomorrow at 5 p.m. All matches will take place at the Varsity Tennis Center.

 

Break Points:

·         The match with Cornell was the first meeting between the Buckeyes and the Big Red.

·         As the No. 3 ranked team nationally, Ohio State is 66-2.

·         Ohio State has won 132 consecutive home matches, dating back to the 2002-03 season.

·         The Buckeyes have been victorious in 21 of their previous 22 matches (the only loss occurred in the 2011 NCAA semifinals vs. No. 1 Virginia).

·         Since 2001, Ohio State is 249-36 when ranked in the ITA Top 25. That mark improves to 202-13 from the 2005-06 season onward.

·         The Buckeyes have been ranked in the ITA Top 10 for 166-consecutive matches (beginning March 7, 2006).

·         Ohio State has won 79 consecutive Big Ten Conference matches.